Sharing my vegan twist on a classic Indian dish with this Indian Coconut Butter Cauliflower. I’ve swapped the chicken for nutrient packed cauliflower, and replaced the heavy cream and butter with rich and creamy coconut milk and coconut oil. This coconut butter cauliflower is the perfect healthy, but still delicious, alternative to the traditional heavier version. It has a quick 30 minute cooking time and uses pantry staple ingredients. Making this recipe perfect for any night of the week.

My favorite thing to do is to cook for others. Creating a recipe that I know someone is going to love is such a fulfilling thing for me. It’s one of the reasons I love cooking so much. When my family was in town over Christmas, I knew that I would have to make Indian Butter Chicken. Butter Chicken is one of my brother Creighton’s favorite dishes. The rest of the crew loves a good Indian dish too.

That being said, there are a few people in the family who prefer a vegan/vegetarian diet. Enter this coconut butter cauliflower. It has all the same flavors and creamy sauce as classic butter chicken. However, it omits the chicken and replaces it with cauliflower, and is made vegan by using of creamy coconut milk.

It also happens to be much easier to prepare with just a 30 minute cooking time. So basically, it’s the perfect recipe for January.

I wanted to keep the dish as authentic as possible. So I first “marinated” the cauliflower in a mix of coconut milk, garlic, and ginger. It’s just a quick marinade to help the cauliflower soak up the garlic and ginger flavors. Once the cauliflower has marinated for 10 minutes or so, it’s time to broil. I like to do this to give the cauliflower a head start on cooking. it also gives it a nice little char before being added to the coconut butter sauce.

While the cauliflower is “marinating”, I make the coconut butter sauce to keep the recipe moving right along. The key to any good Indian butter sauce is all in the spices. I used a mix of garlic, ginger, garam masala, yellow curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper for a very well spiced sauce. It’s warming and spicy, but not in an overpowering way. If you’re sensitive to heat, just adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking.

My real secret to a delicious Indian sauce, whether vegan or not, is coconut milk. I adore using coconut milk in place of cream in any Indian style sauce I make. I find it not only to be creamier and healthier, but also every bit as delicious (if not more so) than what you might get at Indian restaurant. The coconut pairs so well with the Indian sauce seasonings. It’s always my go-to when making Indian inspired food.

By the time you have the sauce together, the cauliflower should be ready to go. Just slide it right into the sauce to finish cooking.

As you can probably guess, my favorite way to serve this is over steamed rice with a side of my homemade naan (which I’ve been making almost every other day as of late). If you’d like something a little more nutrient dense than white rice, try using steamed brown rice or quinoa.

I ended up serving this with a little mango salsa on top (just a simple mix of diced mango, jalapeño, lime, and cilantro) and it was truly delicious. I would highly recommend if you love a fruity touch of sweetness, which you know I do.

So, what was the family’s verdict?

Let’s just put it this way, all of the coconut butter cauliflower was eaten before the chicken version was touched. Trust me, I’m shocked that everyone, even the meat eaters in the family, went for the vegan version. This dish is truly loved by all. In fact, some of my harshest critics said this was some of the best Indian food they’ve eaten. Even one family member who has been to India several times.

I think it’s safe to say the recipe is a true hit. I’m sure I’ll be making it over and over again, especially since it’s so easy.

If you make this Indian coconut butter cauliflower, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

30 Minute Indian Coconut Butter Cauliflower

I've swapped the chicken for nutrient packed cauliflower, and replaced the heavy cream and butter with rich and creamy coconut milk and coconut oil. It's quick 30 minute cooking time and pantry staple ingredients make this recipe perfect for any night of the week.

Instructions

1. Preheat the broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, 1/3 cup coconut milk, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, and a pinch of salt. Let sit 10 minutes to "marinate". Spread the cauliflower in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes, until the cauliflower is just beginning to char on the edges.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add the remaining garlic and ginger, cooking another 5 minutes. Stir in the garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

4. Add the tomato paste and remaining 2 cups coconut milk. Stir to combine, bring the sauce to a boil, cook 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Stir in coconut oil. If the sauce seems thick, thin with 1/2 to 1/2 additional coconut milk or water. Add the cauliflower and any juices on the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Serve the cauliflower and sauce over bowls of rice with fresh naan and mango chutney, if desired. Enjoy!

I love that you’ve posted this! I adapted your crockpot version into a vegan dish years ago. I do exactly the same and swap out the creams for full fat coconut milk, coconut yogurt and vegan butter. I add in cauliflower, broccoli, cubed tofu and chickpeas. It’s freaking delicious!

Yum!! I’ve been following your blog for over a year and I love your recipes – you bring so much creativity to the table, especially in terms of flavors and composition – but I’ve been leaning more towards vegan/vegetarian cooking, and I love to see when you do recipes that are meatless. Thanks a bunch Tieghan! <3

Do you have a favorite brand of Garam masala? I’ve used two different brands and one is much more red and the other is much more yellow, so I’m wondering which is more “authentic” or if I should even find another brand. Thanks! Can’t wait to try this!

I love the flavours of this recipe, thank you! Wondering whether the cooking time for the cauliflower might be slightly off? Mine was still quite raw and had to be simmered for a good 15 minutes before it was fork tender. That said, I love this recipe and will be cooking it again for sure — maybe next time I’ll blanch the cauli first just to be certain!

soooo good!! I made this recipe and it is soooo tasty and good, a crowd pleaser. I made it with chicken, my 3 teen boys eat a lot (and they love indian food, lucky me), so I doubled the recipe. changes i made -marinated the chicken with the spices on the list, added ground cardamon and a cup of plain greek yogurt. – transferred the chicken to an instant pot and added the rest of the ingredients, and then some more garam massala and curry, 4 potatoes cutted in big chuncks and 4 carrots also cutted in big chuncks. Mix then set on pultry for 30 min. Absolutely delicious!! Thanks so much!!

Made this the other night and it’s seriously SO GOOD and SO EASY. If you like indian and butter chicken 10/10 would recommend giving this recipe a try. It is definitely going to become a regular in my life.

This recipe looks fantastic! Replacing chicken with cauliflower is such a great idea. I am always looking for good vegetarian options, and butter chicken is one of my favourite dishes. Thanks for posting, I can’t wait to try it 🙂

I made this although I added chicken to have some protein & a lott more of the spices because I really like spicy food and it was delicious. The chicken was butter soft and the cauliflower was texturaises and yummy. I also freezed a bit for meal prepping purposes and hopefully that will turn out well. S

Hi Mary, There is a dish called Indian Butter Chicken, which this is based off. So I called the recipe Indian Coconut Butter Cauliflower. There is not butter in the recipe, but there is coconut. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan

I made this for dinner tonight, I followed the recipe exactly the only thing I did differently was throw it in a can of rinsed Chickpeas along with the cauliflower, the whole family (including the 5 & 8 year olds) loved it. I will definitely be making it again.

I loved this recipe! I added cooked chicken to mine and reduced the cayenne pepper to 1/2 tsp. I will likely add green peppers as well next time and increase the cayenne a little (maybe not quite a full teaspoon). Also the jasmine rice almost lends a little too much sweetness to the dish so I might try a different rice next time. I found that the parchment paper almost started to burn before the cauliflower got cooking, so I dumped the cauliflower off the parchment paper and continued broiling until done – turned out the parchment paper wasn’t really needed. Great recipe and fairly easy to make!

This was a hit! Made it tonight for my husband and three kids (ages 6, 3 and 1) and everyone gobbled it up! Used only a pinch of cayenne for the little ones and wished I’d tripled the recipe! Was such a fast, easy recipe and will definitely be adding it to the rotation! Thank you!

We had this for dinner and it was delicious! I know I’m on to a winner when my husband says “You can make that again”. Thank you for the great recipe. I threw in some chickpeas with the cauliflower because I had some to use up and they were a good addition too.

Meet Tieghan Gerard.

I’m Tieghan, the recipes you’ll find here are inspired by the people and places I love most. I try to live simply, eat seasonally, and cook with whole foods. My hope is to inspire a love for amazing food, as well as the courage to try something new!